Nervous Disorders
by PrancesWithKitties
Summary: Lily and James had a 'falling out' their 6th year. Now, since they're both Heads of Hogwarts, can they put aside their differences and work together? Will it really be that hard? JamesxLily, maybe M rated later on. Read and review?
1. Chapter 1

_Update 7/15/11:_

_Edited it a bit… I think it's better now._

_Original:_

_Hey, I just started to write this last night, cause I had the urge. Haha._

_Here's chapter one, hope you like it. Might need some pruning._

_~pranceswithkitties_

**Summary:**Lily and James had a 'falling out' their 6th year. Now, since they're both Heads of Hogwarts, can they put aside their differences and work together? Will it really be that hard? JamesxLily, maybe M rated later on.

* * *

Lily bit her lip as she gazed out of the car window. The bustling city of London passed by, as the Evans headed on their way to King's Cross Station.

"So this 'Head Girl' thing –" Mr. Evans began, looking back at his daughter through the rear-view mirror, "It's one step higher than that erm… what was she last year, Carol?"

"Prefect," Mrs. Evans said proudly, turning around to face Lily.

"Ah, yes- so now you're Head Honcho?" Mr. Evans proceeded, jokingly.

Lily finally looked away from the window, with a small chuckle. "I guess you could say that…" she glanced to where her older sister, Petunia, was sitting, with her arms crossed, looking as though she would rather be anywhere but in the car with her family.

"Here we are…"

Mr. Evans pulled into a spot at the Kings Cross parking lot. As he got out of the car, he went around to the back to unload Lily's things, such as her Hogwarts trunk, and a small pet carrier, that contained her beloved cat, Grizzabella. Lily and her mother got out of the car as well, but Petunia didn't seem keen to follow.

"I'm staying in the car, mum…" she grumbled, avoiding looking at her sister.

Lily sighed and went to the back of the car to help her father, as her mother and sister began to banter, quietly, as if to avoid Lily from hearing them.

"Now you've come all this way, and you won't even see your sister off-" Mrs. Evans began in a hushed tone.

"Why should I? She's just going back to that freak school again!" Petunia spat back.

"Young lady, if you are not out of that car within the next 10 seconds, you are officially banned from ever seeing that Dursley boy again. Be nice to your younger sister!"

Petunia's eyes narrowed, and she grudgingly got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her. Lily caught her eye for a split second, but quickly looked away.

As they all began their way into the station, Lily's father put his arm around her shoulders, as he pushed her cart with the other.

"I can't believe this is your last year at school…" he smiled down at his daughter, "Now remember to write, your mother and I always get lonely while you're gone," he glanced at Petunia, who was lagging behind the group. "'Tunia never seems to be around the house…"

Lily smiled apologetically, as if it was her fault Petunia was so angry towards their parents all the time, "Don't worry dad, I'll write as much as I can," she leaned onto his shoulder as they approached the gap between Platforms 9 and 10. "Of course, being Head Honcho, I have a lot of new responsibilities…" she grinned up at her father.

He gave a hearty laugh, with a twinkle in his eye, "How could I forget?" he sighed, "Well…" he looked around, "Here we are," he backed up, to have one last look at his daughter before she left. Her mother came beside him.

Petunia was leaning against a wall, further off from the family. Lily made another glance toward her, hoping she would maybe come over, even though she knew she wouldn't.

Her parents both gave her a big hug after saying their goodbyes. Lily promised again and again to write to them, and nearly had to tear herself away in order to make the train on time.

As she pushed her cart through the portal, she ran into someone on her way out.

"Sorry-"

Lily's heart skipped a tiny beat as she realized who it was.

James Potter, stood right in front of her, looking nearly dumbstruck. That look quickly turned into a curt nod, "Evans." he said, in a sort of greeting, sounding strained. Standing at six feet tall, he towered over her. His hazel eyes, adorned with glasses, stared at her, as if refusing to back down.

"Potter…" Lily returned, gulping. She quickly steered her cart away from him, and toward the Hogwarts Express. Before she could get much closer, she was practically attacked by her zany friend, Addie.

"Lils! Liiiills!" she exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly, "This is it! It's our last year! Can you believe it?"

Lily laughed, though it was rather difficult, as she could hardly breathe.

She finally let go of her best friend and smiled. Addie Jones was a short girl, about 5'3'', with short brown hair and green eyes. She and Lily nearly looked the same, if it wasn't for Lily's long, deep red hair, "Oh, did you get on the train yet?" she asked, looking at Lily's cart. "We got a compartment in the back, you can join…" she trailed off as she saw the shining Head Girl badge on the front of Lily's robes, "LILS!" she exclaimed. "Head GIRL?"

Lily winced at the volume of her friend's voice. Smiling, she looked down at her badge, "Yeah… I figured I'd leave it as a surprise." she explained to the dumbstruck look on Addie's face. She quickly glanced over Addie, to where James was standing a few feet away.

Addie stopped for a minute, looking at her friend's face scrutinizingly, realizing that something was off about Lily, "Let's get on the train, shall we?" she said, taking one end of Lily's trunk. "Then you can tell me aaaall about your summer."

The two girls dragged Lily's things onto the train, stowed them in the luggage compartment, and reached the furthest back room. To their surprise, it was occupied by a few people they weren't expecting. Instead of just Maxine and Sara, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all crammed into the last carriage as well.

Addie wrenched open the door of the compartment and put her hands on her hips. "Well hello there…" she said, greeting the now completely full compartment. Sara Wright looked extremely uncomfortable as she tried to scoot away from Sirius Black, who was sitting next to her. Sara was smart, shy girl, who mostly kept to herself. This was in much contrast to her outward appearance, which revealed a 5'5", blonde, curvy, and blue-eyed fox of a girl. Sirius seemed to relish in this, for he was sitting far closer than Sara wanted.

Sirius Black, himself, was a rather handsome fellow. Standing tall at 6' 2", most girls melted at his feet. His rugged chin-length black hair, mixed with his silver eyes, made him rather irresistible, not to mention his gorgeous athletic figure.

Remus Lupin was not as tall as James or Sirius, at about 5'11". His light brown hair, and golden eyes went well with his pale skin. He was skinnier than Sirius, almost unhealthily so, but he still managed to make the girls swoon with his quiet, thoughtful disposition.

Beside Remus sat Maxine LaQuoix. She was a tall girl, about 5'8", with short, wavy dark brown hair. She was downright gorgeous, and had the sassy attitude to match. Maxine was eyeing Remus up and down, with a little smirk on her lips.

As for Peter, he was the polar opposite of any of the other boys. He stood rather short, at 5'6".He was a little on the plumper side, had sandy, mousy hair, and dark brown eyes.

Lily bit her lip and felt her heart start to beat a little bit faster. If the three of them were here, than James had to be…

"'Scuse me, Evans." a voice behind her sounded.

Lily jumped slightly and turned around to see yours truly, James Potter behind her.

Looking into the nearly full compartment, James cleared his throat, "I'll just get my things." he said, moving past her, into the compartment, where he grabbed his bag from the storage shelf.

Remus looked to James, getting the hint, "Well erm, we'll see you later then." he said to the girls with a strained smile, tugging on Sirius' sleeve as he stood up. Sirius looked at him, annoyed that he couldn't stay longer, but still followed as the other boys left the compartment.

Lily hand went to her chest, her heart beating fast as they left. Addie looked at her friend, and tugged her inside of the compartment with the other girls. She took a seat across from her.

"What's up with you, Lils?" she asked, and the other girls looked over questioningly, "Is it James?"

Lily bit her lip again, "Erm…" she trailed off, wringing her hands together. "I just… I keep running in to him, and I just feel so bad, after last term… he seems… different." There was a little pause of silence as the girls though about what happened in the year previous.

Maxine straightened up, "Oh, Lily, don't worry about that. It's James Potter. Really," she looked at her nails, "He bounces back like that." she snapped her fingers.

"Yeah, she's right." Sara said, in a small voice. "Forget about him. He always gets over things like that pretty quickly."

Lily was still biting her lip. "I know. I just…"

Addie surveyed Lily. "…you like him."

Lily shook her head and opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out.

"Mmmmm. You like him." Maxine shook her head, "We've known it all along."

Sara nodded, "It's quite obvious, at times." she said quietly. "You know, that whole love-hate kind of thing…"

"Oh, guys, come on. You don't really think that I-" Lily tried to retort, when suddenly, the compartment door opened again.

"Sorry. Forgot something."

James walked into the compartment, and started looking around. He finally found a small envelope that must have dropped out of his bag, took it, glanced for a moment at Lily, and left the compartment again, uttering a thank you.

Maxine raised her eyebrows at Lily. There was a short silence that followed.

"…Lils, you nearly held your breath that whole time." Addie commented, laughing slightly.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous…" Lily said, remembering to breathe. She took a look at her watch, and gave a start, "Arghh! I have to go take care of the Prefect meeting… I'm late."

"Wait, what?" Maxine said at first, but then noticed the Head Girl badge on Lily's shirt. "Oooh, Head Girl Lily… Go round up those Prefects…" she said, smirking.

Sara looked over to see Lily's badge, "Oh, that's really great Lily, congratulations." she said with a little smile.

Lily thanked her, and quickly stood to go to the front of the train, to the Prefect compartment, "I'll be back soon." she called back to the girls.

She made her way down the aisle until she found a compartment full of 5th years, all with shining Prefect badges on. Upon opening the door, she found something that nearly shocked the life out of her.

Again. There was James Potter, for the fourth time this morning. And on his chest, oh yes, there was a shining crest, bearing the words, 'Head Boy'.

How could this possibly be happening?

* * *

_Update 7/15/11:_

_Edited it a bit… I think it's better now._

_Original:_

_I'm actually about to start writing the next chapter... not sure what's gonna happen, but we'll see! Haha, I'll go by the seat of my pants on this one._

_~pranceswithkitties_


	2. Chapter 2

_Update 7/15/11:_

_Edited! _

_Original:_

_Here's the next chapter. :) I like it so far, I think._

_I wrote it rather fast, there's probably mistakes. I'll be going over it within the next couple of days. (probably.)_

_Hope you like it. :)_

_~pranceswithkitties_

**Summary:** Lily and James had a 'falling out' their 6th year. Now, since they're both Heads of Hogwarts, can they put aside their differences and work together? Will it really be that hard?

* * *

James ignored Lily's obvious stare as she came into the compartment. Leaning against the wall, he looked as handsome as ever, his hair all tussled up, his glasses slightly askew…

Snap out of it! Lily though to herself. Taking a deep breath, she addressed the Prefects, "Alright. So it's… the start of another term…" she fumbled over her words, glancing at James again, "Time to just go over some basic rules. But first of all-" another glance, "I'm Lily Evans, the new head girl, and this is-"

"-James Potter, head boy." James finished, careful not to look at Lily. The girl Prefects in the compartment looked downright flustered, just at the feeling of being in the same cart as James Potter. He was practically a celebrity, the way girls treated him.

"R-right." Lily said, trying not to look at him. "So the rules are just the same as normal…" and she proceeded to go over the many Hogwarts rules that the Prefects must uphold.

James stole a look over at Lily. What was she playing at? This wasn't the Lily Evans he knew… her persona was usually as red hot as that hair of hers… Something was strangely different about her. She seemed much more timid As much as he disliked her from their last encounter, (mainly because of the fact that she had humiliated him in front of the whole school…) he couldn't help but feel like she… like she was afraid of him, or something.

He zoned out as Lily droned on about rules and such… things he didn't really care about. He started to wonder even more than he had before about why Dumbledore put Lily and him together as Head Girl and Boy. It was preposterous. He was possibly the biggest rule-breaker in the entire class. Probably in the whole history of Hogwarts itself. How was he expected to uptain the very rules he was best at breaking? He sighed, and ruffled his hair with one hand.

Lily was just about done explaining things, "And erm…" she took a deep breath, "That should be about it." she went through her brain, thinking of anything else to tell them, "Oh, and the Prefect's bathroom is located on the fifth floor, the fourth door on the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. And that's… it." she ended feebly.

The Prefects nodded in understanding, a few of them looking rather pompous. "You're free to go back to your compartments." Lily said, "Just remember to lead your Houses back to your common rooms, right after the feast." The Prefects began to file out of the room, a few stopping and thanking Lily, telling her they looked forward to this year.

James stayed in his corner, leaning against the wall, surveying Lily. What was up with her… he wondered. He lifted himself up, preparing to leave when all the Prefects had gone, and she suddenly spoke up.

"Um, hey… listen," she began, looking as though she was forcing it, "I-I'm sorry for last year, it was… well, it was downright awful of me." She looked up into his eyes for a short moment, and back down.

James shook his head, unable to believe what he had heard. Lily Evans, the girl who hated his guts, who made a fool of him last year, in the Great Hall, in front of nearly every person in the school… Lily Evans, the girl he had been infatuated with for most of his Hogwarts career, was finally pushing aside her own stubborn temper, and trying to make a truce with him. He laughed bitterly.

"We'll see, Evans. I can't just forget what happened," he looked at her, "You hate me, remember?" his eyes narrowed. "I'm not saying I don't want a truce… we're going to be living in the same dorm," he ruffled his hair again, "but don't think we're gonna be 'buddy buddy' any time soon." He watched her face falter, and as she quickly nodded her acknowledgment, he strode past her, and back out into the hall, wondering if he had said the right thing.

Lily took a slow, shaky breath. Well. There you go, Lils. She thought to herself. He hates you now. Despises you. Not that he shouldn't… She backed up and took a seat in the empty compartment. I guess I got what I wanted… he won't be hitting on me anytime soon… Lily thought, with a strange feeling of disappointment.

It wasn't as though Lily had always hated James… but she really treated him awfully in the past. Normally, Lily absolutely despised that big-headed showoff of a boy, James Potter. But he really wasn't so bad, all of the time… in fact he would often attempt to be a sweetheart towards her, always asking her out and trying to be with her. Lily had thought that his constant attention was insanely annoying, but now, after their big ordeal last year… she had come to thinking… Did she really hate him? Or was she just denying that she really, in fact, liked the boy?

At first, upon this realization, she laughed and felt it was ridiculous. But, thinking more and more about it, she was sure. That had to be it. She must like James Potter.

She now began to feel absolutely horrible for the way she had treated him in the past. Leave it to her red-head temper to screw things up, she thought.

But now, coming back to Hogwarts, she was surprised to find that she felt… well, downright nervous around him! This was so odd, considering she had been around him many more times than she would like to have been in the past, (or so she had though, at the time) and she had never felt like that around him. It was like her heart had realized she liked him before Lily had even thought of the notion. And now, she could barely stand being around him. But not in the kind of way that she couldn't stand him before… it was more that… she felt as though she would throw up because of the tension. It was awful.

Worst of all, after what happened last year, he thought she hated him. And he definitely was not as friendly as he had been, during the previous years at Hogwarts. He was downright finished with her, it seemed.

Oh, what an ordeal she had gotten herself into.

Lily blamed teenage hormones.

* * *

Quickly after she had gotten back to the compartment, and her friends had changed into their robes, the train had finally reached it's destination. As the students began to file out, Lily told the girls to go ahead of her. They told her they would save her a seat in the great hall for the feast. Lily thanked them, before she went from compartment to compartment, checking that every student had gotten off of the train. She was afraid she might run into James and not know what to say, but luckily, she didn't.

About 15 minutes later, Lily arrived inside the castle, and sat at the Gryffindor table with Addie, Maxine, and Sara. Not too far down the table sat James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Lily tried her best to not look over at James.

James, surprisingly, didn't. He blatantly stared at Lily, trying to figure her out. What could possibly be going on in that crazy head of hers... last year, she had made it VERY well known that she never wanted to talk to him ever again, and couldn't even stand the sight of 'his huge head'. He let out a great big sigh as he continued to stare at her.

Remus looked to Sirius, who was looking at James. They both raised their eyebrows as they realized who he was staring at, "James..." Remus said, in an attempt to get him out of this trance-like state, "Jaaames..." he waved a hand in front of his friend's eyes.

James jumped out of his trance, shaking his head, "What?" he asked, trying to look non-chalant. Sirius rolled his eyes and laughed a dog-like laugh.

"After last year mate..." Sirius shook his head, "Really? I mean, I know you've got to live with her and all, but still. She's not too fond of you."

"I dunno, Sirius." James shoveled some mashed potatoes into his mouth, "It's like she's changed her mind about me or something..." he said, spraying food over his friends.

Remus wiped a glob of potatoes off of his face, looking slightly annoyed, "What makes you think that...?" he said, stealing a look over to where she was sitting.

"She's like..." James trailed off, thinking of how to explain it, "A nervous wreck around me. It's odd..." he trailed off again, shoveling more food in his mouth. "She downright apologized to me about… well you know," he didn't bother to explain. Remus looked puzzled.

"Well that's certainly not like her..." he commented, before digging into his meal as well.

"Whatever, mate," Sirius said, "She's wonky. Doesn't know what she wants." he concluded, helping himself to more food.

"What do you think, Peter?" James asked, in an attempt to get more advice.

"Oh! Well," Peter looked confused, "I erm," he looked over at Lily. "She's wonky." he said, agreeing with Sirius.

James looked thoughtful as he continued to scarf down food. Things like this made him hungry.

* * *

After the feast, the Great Hall emptied out, lead by the Prefects, to their own House dormitories. Lily bade goodnight to her friends, as she went to find her way to her own dorm.

That was another big thing that Lily was nervous about. The Head Boy and Head Girl always shared a dorm. They didn't have the same room or anything, but from what she had heard, it was four rooms. A nice, cozy common room in the middle, with two dorms on either side, and an adjoining bathroom in the back that connected the two. She was at nerves end, thinking about it, now that the boy she had to share this dorm with was none other than James Potter.

And that was another thing to wonder. How had he gotten the position of Head Boy? Lily couldn't even count how many times she had caught James and his friends breaking rules, as a Prefect. How did Dumbledore expect him to stand up for these rules? She couldn't figure it out. It was like Dumbledore had some kind of crazy plot...

Nonetheless, Lily made her way through the halls, trying to find the Head's dorm. After 10 minutes of roaming around, she felt as though she had taken a wrong turn somewhere...

Great. She thought to herself. All she wanted right now was to just sleep in a nice, warm Hogwarts four-post bed, but she had to go and get lost. She brought her wand out, murmured "_Lumos,_" and the tip of her wand lit up the slightly darkened corridor. She looked at where she was, and realized she was completely turned around. "Ugh..." she grumbled went back from where she came. She must have taken a wrong turn while she was tucked into her thoughts...

Eventually, she made it to a wide pair of doors, with the golden words encrusted upon the top, reading, "Head Student's Dormitory". It was a very decorative door, with great big golden knockers upon it, resembling that of two Hog's heads. She went to grasp the handle of the door, but was surprised to see that the knockers burst into life, asking, "Password?"

Lily stared. There was a password? Ohh, how could she forget... it was in the letter that had been sent to her with her badge... the password completely escaped her mind now. She went through the pockets of her robe, hoping that she had maybe thought to put the paper in there... but she was out of luck.

"Well?" the door knockers said, after a moment's silence.

"Erm," Lily said, feeling rather odd to address them, "I seemed to have forgotten the password..." she said, feeling hopeless.

"I've got it right here."

Lily nearly jumped out of her shoes at the voice behind her. She turned to see James, pulling an envelope out of his pocket, the same envelop he had gotten out of her compartment on the train. He retrieved the letter from within the envelope, and his eyes scanned the paper.

"Scallywag."

The doors spread wide open, revealing a nice, comfy room, with a lit fireplace, a big couch, and a table in one corner. The room instantly reminded Lily of the Gryffindor common room. Quickly, Lily looked to James, "Thanks..." she said quietly.

James nodded and gave her a small smile, but didn't say anything. He motioned for her to go ahead of him, into the room. As she did so, he closed the doors behind them. He sighed. "Evans..." he began, but as he turned around, he found that Lily had already crossed the room, and entered her own dorm on the left. The small click of the door sounded as his answer.

Ouch. James thought. This was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

_There we go. Second chapter._

_I might continue writing tonight, I'm not sure..._

_Read and review please? _

_~pranceswithkitties_


	3. Chapter 3

_Updated 7/15/11:_

_Edited!_

_Chapter 3! Spent most of this morning writing it. _

_Once again, may be mistakes in it... I'll be going over these chapters within the next couple days._

_Hope you like it._

_~pranceswithkitties_

**Summary:** Lily and James had a 'falling out' their 6th year. Now, since they're both Heads of Hogwarts, can they put aside their differences and work together? Will it really be that hard?

* * *

James flumped onto the couch, looking smug. The fire in the mantel glowed, reflecting in his hazel eyes. He ruffled his hair and leaned forward, placing his elbows onto his knees, and wondered what he should do about Lily.

As he stared into the fire, he swore he saw a face in it. He rubbed his eyes, trying to convince himself he was just tired. But with a loud crash, sure enough, Sirius tumbled out of James' fireplace, in a glow of green flames, soon followed by Remus and Peter.

Sirius brushed the ash off of his robes, "Hey there, Jamesy!" he greeted James, sitting next to him on the couch, spreading his arms wide, and putting his feet on the coffee table in front of them.

Remus coughed a bit, and thumped himself on the chest, causing soot to blow off his robes, "I'm surprised that actually worked…" he said through the coughs, "Nice place you've got here, James…" he continued, looking around.

Peter was on the floor, on all fours, staring up at the ceiling, which had frescoes painted all over it. "Mighty fancy…" he marveled.

James shook his head a few times, in shock, "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, looking around at the lot of them.

Sirius laughed, "You didn't think you'd get a nice private dorm all to yourself, without a few interruptions from your dear friends, the Marauders, did you, Mr. Head Boy?" he said, clapping James on the back as he got up, "I mean just look at this place!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as he walked around the room, "You could throw the best parties in here, mate…"

Remus rolled his eyes, smiling, and looked to James. "So how's Project Lily going?" he asked, lowering his voice, taking the now vacant seat next to James. Peter had scrambled up off the floor to follow Sirius into James' room, the door on the right.

James looked to his friend. He was amazed at how selfless Remus really was, considering it was only a few days until the full moon. He was already looking rather off. His normally bright eyes were hazed over with dark circles below them, and his skin looked even paler than normal. On top of that, it looked as though he hadn't eaten in a month. But still, Remus cared enough about his friends to know how James and his 'Lily flower' were doing.

James shrugged, "She went to her room about a half hour ago." he explained, "I didn't get to talk to her at all."

Remus smiled feebly, "She'll come around eventually, Prongs."

The two of them were distracted just then by a loud clanging that came from James' room, followed by a muffled, "Oops…" sounding strangely like Sirius. James rolled his eyes, pushed himself off the couch, and headed over into his room.

"What did you do n- GREAT MERLIN!"

* * *

Lily sat on her big, cushy bed, and petted her cat, Grizzabella. Bella purred softly and looked up at Lily with big, blue eyes. Lily smiled a bit, leaned down and planted a little kiss on the top of Bella's head, before she went over to her mirror.

"What is up with you, Lily Evans…" she whispered lightly, "Snap out of it." She looked at herself in the mirror. She had already changed out of her robes, and into her night clothes, a small tank top, with a pair of boxer shorts. She stepped closer to the mirror, staring herself down. Where was that fiery red-head she was normally? It's as if her little 'infatuation' with James had put out her temper.

Before she really had any more time to perseverate on this problem, she started to smell smoke. She stopped, blinking a few times, making sure she had really smelt it. Was it just the fireplace? She thought, looking over to the fire in her room. No, she would have smelled it before… She sighed, shaking her head, thinking she better go out and take a look. Grabbing the robe that was hung on the back of her door, she ventured out into the common room, to have a look see what was wrong.

* * *

James yelled for Remus to follow, amazed at the sight before him. Sirius had managed to somehow knock over one of the candles that were mounted on the wall, and it had caught fire to his bed, and not to mention, Peter. As Remus appeared in the room, the other three boys were running around, in panic.

"PUT ME OUT, PUT ME OUT!"

"I'M TRYING! STAY STILL!"

"WHAT ABOUT MY BED?"

Remus, in an attempt to stop the three of them, so he could get a clear shot at the fire, was about to yell, when Lily burst into the room.

"…the HELL." she said, clearly surprised at the three other boys that clearly shouldn't have been there at the time. "_Aguamenti_!" she yelled, wand out, dousing the four boys in a thick stream of water. They sat there, dumbstruck and soaked to the bone.

Lily stood awkwardly, as the boys stared at her for a moment. It seemed that in the rash situation, Lily lost her new shy exterior, and became the old Lily, by taking charge. She felt somewhat liberated.

"… thanks, Lily." Remus sputtered.

"Yeah, no problem., she answered quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "_Calescura_." she muttered, drying James' charred bed.

James was in shock. He hadn't expected her to come to the rescue… he had concluded that she either hated him, was afraid of him… or something else… and now, after she did this? What in the bloody hell was going on?

"I think that was our cue to leave…" Remus announced, looking from Lily to James. "We'll just… be going." he motioned for Peter and Sirius to follow him. The three of them slinked out of the room. Lily could hear Sirius' muffled complaints, "Soaked! Completely soaked!" and Remus' retorts, "Well if you wouldn't have knocked over that candle, you idiot…" followed by laughs. Soon enough, their banter disappeared with a glow of green.

Lily turned to James, "Erm…" she trailed off. What was she supposed to say after something like that? The nerves started to come back to her.

"Thanks, Evans." James said, ruffling his wet hair. "I don't know what came over me, it was like a mass panic in here…" he tried to explain, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of her for not using the simple Aguamenti charm.

"It's fine," she answered quietly. After a short paused, she continued, a little stronger sounding, "You can call me Lily," she paused, "If you want."

James was flabbergasted. What had she said? He couldn't believe his ears! Was this really Lily? "What have you done with Lily Evans…" he said, jokingly, laughing a bit.

Lily laughed herself, surprised at her words. Looking down, she noticed James' hand was severely burnt. "Oh Merlin," she said, moving closer, "Your hand…" she pointed.

James looked down at his hand. Oh, would you look at that? "Ahh, it's nothing…" he said, touching it with the other hand, and wincing at the pain. "Hah… It's fine." he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Nonsense…" Lily moved closer and took his hand gingerly in hers. "_Episkey_." she said, pointing her wand to the burn on his hand. The once second degree burn lessened to a first degree, to the point where it was just pink. "Any better…?" she asked.

What Lily didn't notice was James expression. A mix of surprise, relief, and downright… confusion. He remembered she had just asked him a question, and answered, "Yeah…" moving his hand a bit. "Still hurts a bit… but thanks."

Lily shook her head, "It's fine. Hold on, I have something that'll help." she let go of his hand and walked out of his room, into the common room, and over into her own room.

Shuffling through her trunk, which was hardly unpacked yet, she finally found a little tube, with the words, 'Neosporin' on it. Hey, it might be a Muggle product, but it worked pretty well… Her mother was a nurse. She never let Lily leave the house without band aids, and Neosporin. Bless her, Lily thought to herself.

Lily came out of her room, and back into the common room, where she discovered James sitting on the couch, still soaking wet. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes trailed over him, his shirt sticking to his chest. She took a deep breath and made her way over, taking a seat next to him.

James eyed the tube she had in her hand. What the hell was Neosporin…

Lily uncapped it, and dabbed a bit onto her finger, before rubbing it gently onto James' burnt hand. "There." she said, as she finished. Looking up into his confused face, she explained, "It'll help it heal… at least until Madam Pomfrey can take a look at it…" as he looked over to her, she blushed and looked away. There it was again, that nervous feeling… just when she was starting to feel okay around him…

James blinked a few times, "Thanks…" he said, trying to think of what he should say, "…Erm, Lily…What's wrong with you?" he asked, immediately regretting it. Stupid, James. Stupid! He thought to himself, right before Lily exploded.

Lily's face went completely pink, and her temper swelled, "Always a man of such eloquence!" she shot, feeling flustered, "Next time I won't help you then," taking the Neosporin, she got off the couch and crossed the room, attempting to get back into her own room.

But before she could reach her door, James had caught up with her, and grabbed her wrist, "Wait." he said, almost desperately, "I didn't mean it like that… You've just been really… odd around me." he explained.

Lily reddened even more. His hand was still clamped around her wrist. She turned around, and he silently let go. "I just want to know." he continued, "…it doesn't seem like you hate me, Eva-" he corrected himself, "Lily."

"I don't." Lily said, before she could stop herself. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, she felt too embarassed. As her temper lifted, the butterflies in her stomach slowly made her feel rather nauseous. She bit her lip.

James ruffled his hair, which was still wet, realizing that, in fact, he was still soaked, and he suddenly began to feel cold. "Hold on, stay here. Please?" he said suddenly, "I'm just gonna change. Can we talk?"

Lily silently nodded, and James bounded across the common room into his own room. She could see wads of clothing flying around the room through the open door, and almost laughed. Holding her nauseous stomach, she took a seat on the couch, which was slightly wet from James having sat on it earlier. She sighed. What WAS wrong with her... She quickly cast the hot air charm again, drying the damp couch as she waited for James to reenter the room. She tightened the tie around her robe.

Seconds later, James came back out, now wearing plaid pajama pants and a small white t-shirt. Ruffling his still wet hair yet again, he took the seat beside Lily. They sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke up, gaining some confidence.

"I really am sorry for last year," she wrung her hands together in her lap, "It was awful. I wish I could take it back."

James looked at her, confused. Nonetheless he answered, "It's… fine." he sighed, "Lily, I don't know what to say..." he shook his head, almost at a loss for words, "I thought you despised me, but after today I assume I can safely say that you… don't?" he awaited her answer.

Lily drew in a shaky breath, "No, I don't," she looked up into his hazel eyes for the first time that night, and saw that they were staring straight into hers.

James didn't break the stare. Moving slightly closer, he spoke again, "Listen, I know you've known this, well, probably since second year..." he trailed off for a moment, still looking at her, "I've always fancied you, Lily. But after last spring..." he stopped for a moment, "I thought you would never speak to me again. I thought it was hopeless," he moved a bit closer again, "But now, coming back this year... it's like you're a whole different person. You never used apologize to me… for anything. Let alone something as big as, well. You know," he pointed out, smiling a bit in spite of himself.

Lily almost smiled back, nearly unable to resist his adorable grin. She looked away, "I..." she didn't know what to say, "...I don't know what's wrong with me..." she laughed a bit, tucking her hair behind her ear again, "I don't hate you as much as you thought I did... is I guess, what I want to say..." she struggled.

"Oh, well that's good." James said, laughing, "You hating me isn't really what I had in mind," he was so close that their knees were touching, "I really don't want you to hate me, Lils." he was looking into her eyes again.

Lily bit her lip, as she felt his leg against hers. "James..." she said, looking back up only to find his gaze again. The nerves in her stomach were going crazy, "I..."

James waited a moment for her to continue, "...yes?" he asked.

She couldn't take it. "I..." she was going to be sick if she sat here much longer, "...I need to go to bed. It's late." she looked away quickly, "We have classes tomorrow." She finished weakly, giving him a small smile, "I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, she stood up, and promptly made her way to her room, shutting the door silently.

James sat alone on the couch for a moment.

"Oh, Evans..." he said quietly after a while, "What have I gotten myself into with you..."

Getting up, he sauntered over to his room, and with one last look to her door, he said...

"Goodnight, Lily."

* * *

_Hope you liked it. :) Please review? Constructive criticism? That would be pretty cool._

_I might get to writing the next chapter today, I'm not sure. _

_~pranceswithkitties_


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